After having read the novel, Waiting for Robert Capa, about
the relationship between Gerda Taro and Robert Capa, I decided to do research
work on the subject: Gerda Taro in movies. The life and work of Ernest Hemingway and Andre Malraux have
fascinated me the last Fifty years. I appreciate reading the works of authors
who combine writing with actions-
political actions. The Spanish Civil War is history. The American
author, Ernest Hemingway dediced himself to the fight for the Spanish democracy
against fascisme. He wrote the novel , For Whom the Bell Tolls. The book became
an international bestseller.A movie was also released with the same title as
the book.The book is based on his own experience working as a war
correspondence during the Spanish Civil War. The French author, Andre Malraux,
joined the fighting too as the head of the Spanish Air Force. He went to Spain
to fight. He wrote the novel, L’Espoir, (Hope), and he also produced a movie
about the war.
The keywords chosen for my research in movies for shots of
Gerda Taro were: Ernest Hemingway, Andre Malraux, Robert Capa, The Spanish
Civil War, Norman Bethune, Martha Gellhorn, Lise Lindbæk, Nordahl Grieg, and
Per Imerslund.
In year 1989 the movie, The Legendary Life of Ernest
Hemingway, was released. I took it for granted that viewing the movie would
lead me to the target: Gerda Taro. I was wrong. She is not even mentioned in
the film. Reports about the life of foreign journalists and war photographers working in Spain during the civil war content
information that many of them stayed in Madrid at The Hotel Florida. Gerda
Taro, Robert Capa and Ernest Hemingway stayed at the hotel together. The movie
about Ernest Hemingway is focusing only on the American writer himself. A
negativ portray of the French author, Andre Malraux is made. No word about
Robert Capa and Gerda Tora but a lot of information about the mistress of
Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn. In year 1988 the movie, Hemingway, was
released. I have viewed the film again seaching for shots of Robert Capa and
Gerda Taro. Invain. They are not mentioned at all. Both films make a
negativ picture of Andre Malraux- an
unfair description of the later French Minister of Culture. The result of my
research was negative. I could not find the girl at all. This means that we are
not waiting for Robert Capa but we are waiting for Gerda Taro. The invisible and
immotalized young girl whose life was
too short , too dramatic -but of great value to many people.
Finally: Some facts about Gerda Taro. Her real name was
Gerta Pohorylle. She was born August 1 1910 in Stuttgart, Germany. She died
July 26 1937. A war photographer. She was the companion and professional
partner of war photographer Robert Capa. She adopted the name Gerda Taro after
having moved to Paris, France in 1934 where she met Robert Capa.. She dedicated
herself to the fight against fascisme working as a war photographer and
journalist in the Spanish Civil War. She was well educated having attended a
Swiss boarding school.
When are we going to attend a movie about the legendary
German,Jewish girl who died at the age of 26?
No comments:
Post a Comment